K-9 Unit

Personnel

The Lafayette Police Department (LPD) K9 Unit consists of 5 patrol trained dogs. Four of the K9 Units are assigned to the Uniform Division and 1 is assigned to the Street Crimes Unit.

K9 Training

All of the LPD K9 Units were trained at Von Liche Kennels, located in Denver, Indiana. The K9s are trained in:

Area searches

Article searches

Handler protection

Narcotics detection

Obedience

Tracking

LPD K9

K9 Tico

K9 Tommy

K9 Tommy - K9 Roy

Saxton and Boyka

Saxton and Boyka 2

K9 Tommy Smiling

Annual Certifications

These extremely well-trained teams reinforce their formal training through annual certifications at Von Liche Kennels. They also conduct in-service training, with an average of 16 hours per month. In addition to individual training, the LPD K9 units join with other K9 teams in the Tippecanoe county area for monthly "Metro K9 Unit" training. The dedication of the officers in this unit and their K9 partners is the reason for the success of this program. All of the K9 teams perform extremely well and are an integral part of the drug interdiction efforts of the LPD.

K9 Nando & Officer Brown

K9 Nando was the 1st in our most recent evolution of the LPD K9 program, beginning in 2001. Officer Bob Brown and K9 Nando served the citizens of Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County for several years. K9 Nando and Officer Brown were recognized for their dedicated service at the Lafayette Board of Works meeting on March 13, 2007, upon Nando's retirement.

K9 Care

The K9 officers and their families house the K9's at their homes, provide for their daily care and welfare, and make many personal sacrifices in order to care for the K9's. All of these officers and their K-9s comply with the high standards of the LPD and serve above and beyond their normal duties as officers because of their K-9 duties.

2017 K9 Unit Roster

Officer Ryan French and K9 Roy

K9 Roy is a Dutch Shepherd. He was born on 6/4/2011 in the Netherlands. He has been serving the Lafayette Police Department since October 2013.

Officer Lonnie Wilson and K9 Jeori

Officer Shea Saxton and K9 Boyka

Joeri is a Belgian Malinois and was born in the Netherlands. He was born on 3/22/2011. Joeri began serving with the department when he was a year old.

Though many pronounce Joeri's name as they read it ("Joe-ri"), but the proper pronunciation is "Yoo-ree". Joeri has a very social personality and LOVES attention when around people and kids, but is a trained dual purpose K9 used in patrol and narcotics detection. Joeri lives at home with his handler and is a big part of his family when away from work.

K9 Boyka is a Belgian Malinois. He was born in Holland on 8/24/11. He began his service with LPD on 6/8/14.

Officer Grant Leroux and K9 Cezar

K9 Cezar is a Belgian Malinois. Cezar was born on 03/04/2015 in Slovakia. Cezar was selected on March 20th of 2017 and assigned to Officer Leroux. Cezar enjoys playing with his tennis ball, going on walks, and playing tug.

Officer Austin Schutter and K9 Rocky

Rocky is a Belgian Malinois and was born on 11/27/2013 in Best,Netherlands. He was selected by LPD in October of 2016 and graduated from Vohne Licke Kennels in December of 2016

Retired LPD K9's

At the conclusion of a K9's service to the department and community, they retire and spend the remainder of their years with their handler as a family pet.

K9 Tico

K9 Douwe

K9 Douwe served the Lafayette Police Department from August 2009 through August 2016. Douwe was partnered with Officer Scott Anderson. Douwe passed away 3/5/19.

K9 Tommy

K9 Tommy was a Belgian Malinois partnered with Officer Ron Dombkowski. Tommy was born 11/11/06 In the Netherlands and served the Lafayette Police Department until his retirement in 2017. Tommy passed away 7/6/17.

K9 Jarca

K9 Jarca was partnered with Officer Ryan French. Jarca was a Belgian Malinois. She was born on 6/30/2003 in the Netherlands and died 12/20/2016. Jarca served the department from September 2006 through April 2014.

During her career she had 1500 deployments, assisted with 145 criminal arrests and 277 narcotic arrests.

K9 Kwando

K9 Kwando was a Belgian Malinois partnered with Officer Ron Dombkowski. Kwando was born in the Netherlands on 8/29/03 and died 2/20/08. Kwando served the Lafayette Police Department for two and a half years until he died due to an illness.